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Reassessing Francis Drake: what research for my novel revealed about his role in the slave trade

22 June 2020 By Nikki Marmery

Author Nikki Marmery tells Historia about how researching her recently-published novel about the African woman known as Maria showed her the extent of Francis Drake’s involvement in the slave trade. When I started writing On Wilder Seas eight years ago, I wanted to counter the hero narrative surrounding Francis Drake, which persists despite his background […]

On Wilder Seas by Nikki Marmery

16 March 2020 By Editor

April 1579. When two ships meet off the Pacific coast of New Spain, an enslaved woman seizes the chance to escape. But Maria has unwittingly joined Francis Drake’s circumnavigation voyage as he sets sail on a secret detour into the far north. Sailing into the unknown on the Golden Hind, a lone woman among 80 […]

Maria: the African woman who sailed with Drake on the Golden Hind

15 March 2020 By Nikki Marmery

Nikki Marmery, the author of On Wilder Seas, was inspired by a throwaway line in a 16th-century manuscript to resurrect the hidden life of an African woman taken on board the Golden Hind as spoils of – if not war, then piracy. She tells Historia how she reconstructed Maria’s life. On Wilder Seas is the […]

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The Lying Dutchman by Graham Brack

20 May 2022

Dead in the Water by Mark Ellis

19 May 2022

Widows of the Ice by Anne Fletcher

15 May 2022

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From the Mill to Monte Carlo by Anne Fletcher

15 June 2021

William of Orange's army arrives in England

Why the Glorious Revolution was . . . well, neither

4 November 2018

Historia Q&A: Ben Kane

15 May 2018

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Historia Magazine is published by the Historical Writers’ Association. We are authors, publishers and agents of historical writing, both fiction and non-fiction. For information about membership and profiles of our member authors, please visit our website.

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